Pacôme le Grand
vers 292-346 4th century Feast day: May 9
Common life as a way to God: serving one's brothers rather than saving oneself alone.
Who was Pacôme le Grand?
An Egyptian conscript, he was converted by the charity of Christians who brought food to the confined recruits, and was baptized upon his release. Withdrawing to the desert, he gathered at Tabennesi the first monks living in community under a common rule, inventing a fraternal life that would spread from Egypt to the ends of the earth. He died in an epidemic, surrounded by thousands of brothers.
In their own words
O God, maker of heaven and earth, if you look upon my lowliness and deliver me from this distress, I will serve humankind all the days of my life.
If you see a man pure and humble, that is a great vision; for what is greater than to see the invisible God in a visible man, his temple?